Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Annette Bening | Jamie Bell | Julie Walters | Kenneth Cranham | Vanessa Redgrave
Thom says: “It’s not often that a non big-budget film stars 4 actors who are must-see and the italicized 4 here are all terrific in their roles. Director McGuigan is surprisingly not well-known by me, and yet, amazingly, I’ve seen
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Awkwafina | Chris Pang | Constance Wu | Gemma Chan | Harry Chum Jr. | Henry Golding | Jimmy O. Yang | Ken Jeong | Lisa Lu | Michelle Yeoh | Sonoya Mizuno
Thom says: “I’ve seen three of director Chu’s previous efforts: STEP UP 2: THE STREETS, STEP UP 3D, & NOW YOU SEE ME 2, nothing particularly memorable in professional talents but maybe he was right for this project. The fun,
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Alex Descas | Gerard Depardieu | Josiane Balasco | Juliette Binoche | Nicolas Duvauchelle | Philippe Katerine | Sandrine Dumas | Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | Xavier Beauvois
Chris says: “Leave it to Claire Denis to open her latest by saddling Juliette Binoche with one heck of a blowhard beau and close it on an extended conversation between Binoche and Gerard Depardieu, decidedly *not* her beau (his actual
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gaspar Noé
Starring: Claude-Emmanuelle | Gajan-Maull | Kiddy Smile | Romain Guillermic | Sofia Boutella | Souheila Yacoub
Brett says: “CLIMAX is the sensory blasts of horror from Edgar Allan Poe copulating with the maniacal and unrelenting beats of modern dance and music. Just when you think Gaspar Noé surely can’t do it again, you experience the mind
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniel Schmidt | Gabriel Abrantes
Starring: Anabela Moreira | Carla Marcial | Carlotto Cotta | Chico Chapa | Cleo Tavares | Margarida Moreira
Brett says: “It is a film that lives in a sustained state of delirium and absurdity. It would be worth the price of ticket just to see the audience reactions to the bizarre world of Diamantino, national soccer star of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jean-Pierre | Luc Dardenne
Starring: Adele Haenel | Fabrizione Rongione | Jérémie Renier | Marc Zinga | Olivier Bonnaud | Olivier Gourmet
Thom says: “This Dardenne project was nominated for a Buried Treasure Award for Chlotrudis and I approached this with my usual cautiously optimistic view. These Belgian brothers have been highly lauded throughout their careers with numerous international world-class festival awards,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: David Moorst | Maxine Peake | Pearce Quigley | Rachel Finnegan | Rory Kinnear | Simona Bitmate | Tom Meredith
Thom says: “This film appears to have been critically overlooked by almost everyone. Mike Leigh has to be considered one of the greatest directors currently working and his huge number of top-rated gems with me rings in at 13, including
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats | 4 cats
Director: Nadine Labaki
Starring: Boluwatife Treasure Bankole | Fadi Kamel Youssef | Kawthar Al Haddad | Yordanos Shiferaw | Zain Al Rafeea
Chris says: “If anything, Nadine Labaki has a talent for coaching great performances from child actors: Zain Al Rafeea, the 12-ish-year-old lead is exceptional for his age, but one-year-old Boluwatife Treasure Bankole nearly goddamn steals the show from him. Loses
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Zhangke Jia
Starring: Fan Liao | Feng Xiaogang | Tao Zhao | Xu Zheng | Zhang Yibai
Chris says: “Jia Zhangke’s last film, MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART is my favorite of his assessments of how much China has evolved in his lifetime; although this repeats many of that film’s tropes (plus sneaks in a callback to STILL LIFE,
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Agata Buzek | André Benjamin | Juliette Binoche | Lars Eidinger | Mia Goth | Robert Pattinson
Chris says: “Rest assured, Claire Denis’ first English-language feature is no sellout or concession to a more commercial cinema; on the contrary, it’s possibly her most enigmatic effort since THE INTRUDER. It centers on Monte (Robert Pattinson, further distancing himself
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